Terrible Son: From the Palace to the Pit
“So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20)
You are warmly welcome. Many have argued that the story in Luke 15:11-32 that is commonly called the ‘Parable of the Prodigal (Lost) Son’ should better be called the ‘Parable of the Merciful Father’. The preference of the former title may be partly due to our species’ inherent predilection for bad news – the tendency to see the emptiness of every glass, negative bias, people’s inclination to respond quicker to words like ‘cancer’, ‘bomb’, or ‘war’ than words like ‘baby’, ‘smile’ or ‘fun’, despite these pleasant words being slightly more common. In fact, following this style, I just changed the title of this homily – the real title is “Good Good Father: Patience in Parenting”, and that is what I am writing about.
The parable that is really evangelistic is also beneficial in instructing parents and their children; it uses the picture of an excellent earthly parent to portray God as the merciful Father who receives every sinner that returns. While not every parent is this merciful, it is easy to understand that father’s action, and we have said many times that ‘blood is thicker than water’. Some inherent tie between father and son explains the father’s quick five-step journey: he saw, sympathized, ran, hugged, and kissed his returning son! To be realistic, we should acknowledge that this man was not a fool, and must have felt bad and castigated his wicked son’s actions of not only asking for his inheritance, but going and squandering it in wild living; news would come back home on how this young man was spending time in the red-light bars on strong drink with different girls – all the wicked wild living; until he ran broke and sank into the humiliating suffering.
What should this father do? In another story, we are not told whether or not the sons were bad, but we are told of what the father practiced regularly: ‘Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.”’ (Job 1:5) This is clear indication of a parent praying for his children continually in normal times, and taking the prayer to a deeper level in suspicious or sure-dangerous times. Job not only interceded for his children, but also rebuked and corrected his wife; he was a complete God-fearing family man. From both Job and the merciful father in Luke 15, we see patience in parenting – a virtue that should be learnt, remembered and embraced by all parents today. Its practice will be unique in each family, but by God’s grace every parent is able to respond to this high calling. When that terrible child returns, receive them.
God bless you.